抄録

<I>lysE24</I> is an allele of <I>lysE</I> encoding an <small>L</small>-lysine exporter of <I>Corynebacterium glutamicum</I>. The mutant gene is able to induce <small>L</small>-lysine production in <I>Methylophilus methylotrophus</I>. Although <I>lysE24</I> has a mutation in the middle of <I>lysE</I> that results in chain termination, the entire <I>lysE</I> locus, including the region downstream of the short open reading frame, is necessary for <small>L</small>-lysine production. We propose that separate polypeptides are synthesized from the <I>lysE24</I> locus due to reinitiation of translation utilizing an existing start codon beyond the site of the frameshift, and present evidence that translational coupling is required to form the functional <I>lysE24</I> product. In addition, expression of <I>lysE24</I> induces <small>L</small>-lysine production in another methylotroph, <I>Methylobacillus glycogenes</I>. These data suggest that the <I>lysE24</I> product is a split protein and that this curious feature might be a structure necessary for its functioning in certain obligate gram-negative methylotrophs.